EXCLUSIVE POLL: Mayor Dave Bing's political future in limbo?

DETROIT (WXYZ) - It appears Detroit Mayor Dave Bing made the right call when he decided to not seek reelection. Detroiters want the retired NBA Hall of Famer to hang up his political shoes as well.

In an exclusive WXYZ-TV/Detroit Free Press survey of 400 likely Detroit voters, one out of every 9 people polled said Bing should not run again for Detroit's highest elective office.

Seven percent said he should seek reelection, and 3 percent are undecided. Detroit's financial woes and the personal health challenges Mayor Bing has faced while in office have obviously taken their toll.

Recently, Bing hinted that he might consider running for Wayne County Executive in 2014. That idea is also unpopular with Detroit respondents interviewed. Sixty-six percent said Bing should not seek the top county job, 22 percent wanted him to run for it, and 12 percent couldn't make up their minds

But, if Mayor Bing does decide to challenge fellow Democrat and incumbent County Executive Robert Ficano, Bing would have a slight advantage among Detroit voters.

If the election were today, 33 percent would vote for Bing, 22 percent would cast their ballot for Ficano, and nearly half of Detroit residents, 45 percent, aren't sure which pick candidate they would pick.

A number of investigations into Ficano's Wayne County administration have hurt his once popular image.
Lansing polling expert Bernie Porn summed up a political contest between Bing and Ficano this way, "Bing is unpopular and Ficano is probably toxic."

He also said, "Bing would probably have to have a bigger lead in Detroit to win countywide and it's possible neither candidate would survive the primary race." Wayne County voters who don't live in Detroit were not polled for this survey.

The survey was conducted May 18 – 20 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.9 percent.

VIEW THE ENTIRE POLL BELOW:

Overall, how would you rate the job that Dave Bing has done as Mayor of Detroit -- would you give him a positive rating of excellent or pretty good, or a negative rating of just fair or poor?

19% Total Positive

80% Total Negative

1% Undecided

As you may know, Dave Bing decided that he would not seek reelection as Mayor of Detroit. Do you think he made the right decision, or, do you think he should have run for reelection?

90% Made right decision

7% Should have run

3% Undecided

While saying that he would not seek reelection, Dave Bing did say that he may consider running for county executive in 2014. Do you think that Dave Bing should run for Wayne County Executive, or, do you think that he should not run for that position?

66% Bing should NOT run for county executive

22% Bing should run for county executive

12% Undecided

If Dave Bing decides to run for Wayne County Executive in the 2014 election and the candidates were Dave Bing and Bob Ficano who would you choose?